A few dud universes can really clutter up your basement.

Neal Stephenson
About This Quote

The idea of dud universes (or "dud" universes) is one of the most common jokes about alternate timelines. The idea is that many people create alternate timelines to avoid their own mistakes, but this is counter-productive. Imagine having had the ability to create an alternate timeline, but then accidentally creating a dud universe. You realize that you've messed up, so you delete your timeline and start over.

Unfortunately, you leave the dud universe intact. Now you have two separate timelines with one where you messed up and one where you didn't, and both are still in your basement. This is considered by some to be an infinite loop, or a lazy way of avoiding your mistakes.

Source: In The Beginning...was The Command Line

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